Libya: Mercenaries for Haftar brought from Syria

The Libyan army said Tuesday that a plane carrying Syrian mercenaries landed in Benghazi to support Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar.

In a statement to Anadolu Agency, Abdul Hadi Dara, the spokesman for the Sirte and Jafra operation of the Libyan armed forces, said they “received solid information of mercenaries on board a plane that belongs to [Syrian-owned] Cham Wings Airlines which arrived from Syria to Benina airport.”

Bloody Haftar – Cartoon [Sabaaneh/MiddleEastMonitor]

The Libyan army said Saturday that it was monitoring the mobilization of Haftar’s militia in areas of Sirte and al-Jafra as well as in southern Libya.

Last week, the army also said that a Russian plane landed at Ghardabiya Airbase in Sirte with a shipment of weapons and ammunition for Haftar.

On October 23, the UN announced a permanent ceasefire agreement between Libya’s warring rivals during a meeting of the 5+5 Joint Military Commission in Geneva.

Since the ouster of late leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, two seats of power have emerged in Libya: one in eastern Libya supported mainly by Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, and another in Tripoli, which enjoys UN and international recognition.

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